Apparatus for drying hosiery



Nov. 6 1923.

J. G. HANES APPARATUS FOR DRYING HOSIERY 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 14.

INVENTOR. 67am fiardon Ham, BY flaws ATTORNEY.

Nov. 6, 1923. 1,472,978

I J. G. HANES APPARATUS FOR DRYING HOSIERY Filed March 14, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v M INVENTOR. WITNESSESG G0 a 122m MA BY j27@zm% J v Patented Nov. 6, 1923.

UNITED STA-EST ries ArrAnATos'r-on DRYING nosi snv.

Application filed March 14,1922, Srial'No. 543,730.

To all whom it may concern: -Be itknown that I, JAMES GORDON HANn-s' a' citizen of the United States, residing at lVinston-Salem, county of F orsyth, State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor Drying Hosiery, of; which the followlng is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to hosiery'drying apparatus and more particularly to drying forms or boards over which the moist hosiery is drawn'so as to give, form tothe hose while the latter is dried, by the application of heat, in any suitablemanner. I

An object of the invention is to provide a novel lclampingmeans to-engage and press the hose tightly against the sides of theform during the act of drying, whereby to'prevent shrinkage of any portion or creeping of the'garment lengthwise of the form, said clamping means embodying preferably, a footoperated arrangement to throw or release the clamping means at willwhlle leaving the hands'free to adjust or strip the garment to or from the" form, a self-locking device to hold the clamping means in damp ing position, and a releasing means operable independently of thefootoperated arrangement. 7

"Inaddition to the foregoing this invention comprehends improvements in the details of construction and arrangement of the correlated parts of what is now considered to be the preferredform of the invention from among other possible forms and arrange ments devisablewithingthe spirit of the 'invention and the scope of the appended claims. v

In the accompanying drawings: 1 PFig. I is 'aview in side elevationof a hosiery drying form and clamping means con- 'structed in accordance with the present inventionand illustrating the clamping' means in open position. f v 7 Fig. II is a similar view show ng the relation of the parts when the clamping members re'in clamped position; and

Fig. III is a view of the apparatus, in front elevation. p g i With reference to the drawings 10inch- .cates ahorizontal support which may be in the form of apipe, rod or the like and adapted to support one or more drying forms, one of which is indicated at 11 and formed with a foot 12 which rests upon or is secured to the support 10. Said foot is flanked at either side. by means of a split bearing block "13 each consisting of two complemental parts having their adjacent faces recessed to receive the S IPP rt between them, the parts being-subsequently. held toget-her by-means of bolts '14 whichenter' aligned openings formedin flanges thereof so as to fix the bearing blocks immovably upon the support. Extending through openings in the bearing blocksare a pair of horizontal rods 15, one located'at each side of the support 10, and fixedly mounted on each rod, between eachpair of bearing blocksis a clamping arm 16 adapted formovement toward and away from the drying form.

Associated with'each of said clamp ng arms is an operating lever 17, preferably of a laminated construction and comprising a pair of plates 18, perforated so as to be loosely fulcrumed upon the rod 15 and connected at their upper ends by means of a block 1 9 interposed therebetween The adjacent faces of each block 19 andits associated arm 16 are recessed to receive the ends of a spring 20 which functions to urge the clamping arm toward the form independently of its operating lever 17. The upper ends of the levers 17 are normally urged apart to permit ready release of the 'clamping arms, by means of, a spring 21Iwhich connects the lower ends of said levers. To limit outward movement of the upper ends of the levers apai'rof U-shaped clips 22m provided, each located behind one of the said i levers nd pivotally supportedat their ends upon the bearing blocks 13. The lower ends of the plates 18 forming the operating levers are beveled outwardlyto form contacting faces 23 for engagement with a spreader cam 24 having a pair of beveled surfaces 25 and parallel sides" 26. These cam surfaces may be reinforced by covering the same'with a conformable wearing plate 27. The'contacting faces 23 of the levers may be prolonged by interposing blocks 28 ]oetween; the plates forming the levers and releasablysecuring said blocks in place [by means of screws 29. The cam is'r'aise'd and lowered axially by means of a lever 30 'pivoted at one end to the lower end of an extension 31 of said cam, said lever being fulcrumed upon a suitable support 32 and'formed at its opposite end with a' tread portion 33. The upper end of each arm 16 is provided with a clamping pad 34, each consisting'of a pair of plates 35, curved to conform to the shape of the drying form and held together by means of bolts 36. The outer face of the innermost plate of each pad is covered with a sheet of fine mesh wire fabric or the like 37, the edges of which are caught between the plates prior to the tightening 'of the bolts 36. The outermost plate-of each pair is provided with a pair of bolts 38 which enter openings formed in the arm 16, said openings being enlarged to receive springs 39 which embrace the bolts and act to urge the pads outward within the limit of movement of the pads relative to their supporting arms, the limit being determined by the engagementof nuts l0 (one of which is applied to the protruding end of each bolt 38) against the side of the arm.

T In operation, the garment is drawn over the ,form and smoothed to erase any wrinkles and finally the lever 30 is depressed by means of the foot which results in the upward movement of the cam The point of the cam, upon entering the space between the bevelled faces 93 and upon continued movement causes the lower ends of the levers 17 to separate and the arms 16 to move toward the form, motion of said levers being transmitted through the springs 20 to said arms. The pads are thus brought into contact with the selvage or leg end of the garment. Upwardmovement. of the cam is continued until the straight sides 26 are brought between thelevers, and the parts assume the posit-ion shown in Fig. II, comparison of which with Fig. I will disclose the fact that both the springs 20 and 39 are under strain, the combined tension thereof urging the pads resiliently but tightly against the garment, which may now be dried wlthout shrinking or. creeping of the same alongthe form. The cam thus constitutes a locking element which effectually retains the arms in clamped position. Drying may be effected in various ways well known inthis art, as-for instance. by introducing live steam to the interior of the form which is made hollow for this purpose, the hollow support 10 serving as a. conduit, or b heating the form electrically. The structure-described constitutes a unit of a series ofsuch devices which may be arranged in groups of six or twelve. Thus, the rods 15 areof such a length as to span or include six or twelve of the units within their lengths; and, it will be obvious that. after the garments of a group are driedsaid garments may be quickly released, by rotating the rods 15. the motion of which is transmitted to all the clamping arms 16 of said group, thereby causing said arms to move simultaneouslya-way from the forms 11 against the tension of the springs 20. The release of the arms is thus accomplished independently of the foot levers, the latter being subsequently returned to normal position. Owing to the mounting of the pads upon the arms through the medium of the loosely fitting bolts 38, a limited amount of universal motion of the pads is permitted which enables the pads to more readily adjust themselves to the shape of the form. The function of the wire fabric covering of the pads is to ensure a firm grip on the garment and to permit the escape of moisture throughout the area .of contact of the pad. The plates forming the pad structure are perforated to facilitate this action. Obvi ously, the cam 2 -1: may be operated in any other manner than by depression of the foot, as for instance by substituting a movable element against which the operatorleanshis body or operates by hand.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1

1. Ina garment drier,.a form over which the garment is stretched, means to clamp the garmentagainst the form, foot operated means to move the clamping meansto garment engaging position, and means adapted for manual operation to move the clamping means out of garment engaging nosition independently of the foot ope-rated means.

2. In a garment drier, a form over which thegarment is stretched, clamping means to engage the arment against the form, means to move said means to garment engaging position and to simultaneously lock the moving means against movement, and means operable independently of the moving means to movesa-id clamping means out'o-f clamping position while the first moving means .is in locked position.

3. In a. garment drier, a form over which the garment is stretched, clamping means movabletoward and away fromthe' form, andgarment engaging pads carried by said clamping means and mounted thereon-for movement toward and away from said clampingmeans to engage the garment and press the same against the form.

4. In a garment drier, a form over which the garment. is stretched, clamping means movable toward and away from. the form, pads to engage the garment against the form, pins supportingthe pads and guided for movement 'in the clamping means toward and away from said clamping means, and resilient means ca-rriedby said clamping means to urge the padstoward garment engaging position. V v

5. In a garment drier, a. form over which the garment is stretched, clamping means to engage the garment against the form, operating means to shift the clamping means toward and awayfrom the form and a resili ent connection between the clamping and operating means whereby motion from the operating to the clamping means is trans mitted through said resilient connection.

6. In a garment drier, a form over which the garment is stretched, clamping arms movable toward and away from the form, an operating lever for each arm, and a re silient c0nnec-tion between each lever and its,

associated arm whereby said arms may be released from engagement with the form independently of and in any position of the levers.

7. I n a garment drier, a form over which the garment is stretched, clamping members to engage the garment against the form, a pair of levers to operate said clamping members, and a. cam member adapted to penetrate between and to shift the levers simultaneously to actuate said clamping members.

8. In a, garment drier, a form, pivoted clamping structures, and means to enter be tween the structures at one end thereof to separate said ends and thereby move the opposite ends into clamping engagement with the form.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- Vania, this eighth day of March, 1922.

JAMES o. HANES.

itnesses JAMES H. BELL, E. L. FULLERTON. 

